“A 46, XY disorder of sex development (DSD) is a condition in which an individual with one X chromosome and one Y chromosome in each cell, the pattern normally found in males, have genitalia that is not clearly male or female. Infants with this condition tend to have penoscrotal hypospadias, abnormal development of the testes, and reduced to no sperm production. Some individuals with 46, XY DSD have fully to underdeveloped female reproductive organs (e.g., uterus and fallopian tubes), while others do not. People with 46, XY DSD may be raised as males or females. Treatment involves surgery and hormone replacement therapy.” Ref: https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/8538/46-xy-disorders-of-sexual-development

Internal genitalia that range from absent müllerian structures to a fully developed uterus and fallopian tubes

Gonads that are characterized as normal testis, ovotestis, dysgenetic testis, or streak

Based on the particular features seen in any given individual, the clinical diagnosis may be designated as 46,XY disorder of sex development (DSD) or 46,XY complete gonadal dysgenesis (CDG).

Diagnosis/testing: Nonsyndromic 46,XY DSD and 46,XY CGD must be distinguished from syndromic forms, in which additional organ systems, growth, and cognitive development may also be affected. Biallelic pathogenic variants in DHH, heterozygous pathogenic variants in MAP3K1 and NR5A1,hemizygous pathogenic variants in SRY, hemizygous duplication of NR0B1, and heterozygous deletion of DMRT1 are causative of nonsyndromic 46,XY disorders of testicular development. Ref

Let me give you more background on me if you are interested in understanding me more.

I am mildly intersex meaning I have biological and physical differences.

Few of the obvious physical ones are I have female size nipples (Gynaecomastia), hidden penis, and a seemingly non-closed internal pelvic opening. Buried penis (also known as a hidden penis) is for me a congenital that was made worse due to being over weight, in which my penis is completely hidden below the surface of the skin when not turned on and erect. At birth, the underside of my penis had a small opening like a pseudo very small vagina like opening which was surgically closed at birth. Therefore, I had “severe hypospadias” of my penis or specifically “Penile/urethral hyospadia”: Link

Severe hypospadias a very mild form of intersex (under-virilization of a genetic male). Hypospadias is the most common anomaly of the penis affecting approximately one in 250 males born.

Biologically, I had my testosterone checked and it is so low that it is less than some women. Mentally and emotionally, I am often more attracted to feminine things such as watching a play than playing sports, being creative than working on a car. I enjoy cooking, shopping, clothes styalist, decorating, getting manicure and pedicures, painting my nails, I have tattooed eye liner as well, and when around a group of women, I often forget I am male. I have always felt offended when women are put down and not valued since it feels like it is against me.

Even in one of my counseling courses in a brick school for my bachelors, the class was 20 students and I did not realize I was the only male until the professor asked me how does it feel to be the only male in class? I actually had to look around since I did not believe I was the only male since I felt so comfortable. But one can’t prove to others how they feel or should they have to.

I don’t believe everyone who is genderqueer has to have proof of gender diversity.

But I will say with an honest heart that I have felt both male and female my whole life. To simply call myself a man seems to deny something inside. I use to be ashamed that I had two spirits but after realizing how relatively common it is I am now ok and realize that I am not that strange. I am not the only one.

According to Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus (2008), everyone starts out basically as a female and it takes three processes to make a male. First are defeminizing androgens, then masculinizing androgens, and then testosterone.

Actually, genetics differences are quite common: one in every 1500 males and one in every 5000 females has a genetic gender difference which is more than people with red hair in the world. That is 3 times more men than women so I am in good company.

So where I stand is I am a genderqueer man but am heterosexual not gay or bi or You could say I am a gynesexual which means one born only attracted sexually to women (for me only Cis women) and usually who are also feminine expressing.

Because gynesexual means one born only attracted to women this would mean it could be applied to several different genders from straight men, to someone intersex even lesbian women.

Why add gynesexual? Because just telling you “I’m heterosexual” does not truly answer the question. Especially since “hetero” means different and there are different sexes than just male and female that have been documented (yes all the intersexes). So which sex different from your own are you attracted to from an intersex person could be not rightly explained with saying “I’m heterosexual”.

It is better to use a word that directly states “I’m attracted to women”. Not only does “Gynesexual” do this but it also shows that straight men and lesbians are the same…which is part of the problem with people treating gays with such bigotry. They don’t realize they have relatively the same sexual orientation as them.

I see myself as a “intersex-genderqueer-male,” some may still say I don’t even know what that means please explain. Ok, well intersex is a spectrum of sex/gender between male and female. And genderqueer for me is mental thinking or internalize gender or outside gender expressing that is not of one gender or is gender fluid between them or more one gender at one time and another at another time.

I often hear: “Damien, I don’t like labels.”

Well, you seem to mean you dont like my chosen labels and you not liking labels is your preference, it doesn’t remove the reality of the clarification or what the definition explains. And, you not liking something just like any personal choice, only relates to your personal choice. In other words, it’s like someone not liking a flavor of ice cream, that dislike does not remove the reality of the flavor being good for someone else. But to address or expose the real issue as it most often is when someone states “I don’t like labels” after I just expressed or used a label, they are actually not being honest they are trying to be controlling. See, they are not really stating some personal preference they hold so we know how they see things. Instead what they are really doing is they are trying be subversive, as in they are trying to circumvent our rights to self-define with a label they don’t like or agree with. Thus, they are trying to police what labels can be used and when according to them. However, what is actually distasteful is when people attempt to limit me, confine me, or put me down with a label, especially an inaccurate or abusive label I don’t fit or deserve. While I may have a high tolerance for those who may be uninformed or ignorant, I tend to likewise have a low tolerance for those who chouse to be stupid or seem to champion unintelligence.

One has fully become themselves authentically, when they are no longer trying to fit the limitations others give or force upon them. This resistance or rejection of what one is not, should come less from some aggression towards them, than from a true act of loving oneself.

Religion teaches male and female only, science knows that is wrong there is more diversity of gender in reality.

Female, Male & Intersex at a Glance
Biological sex is our anatomy as female, male, or intersex.
It includes our internal and external sex organs, chromosomes, and hormones.
Some people are intersex rather than female or male.
Our biological sex is how we are defined as female, male, or intersex. It describes our internal and external bodies — including our sexual and reproductive anatomy, our genetic makeup, and our hormones.
– See more at: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation-gender/female-male-intersex

“Intersex” is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. Or a person may be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types—for example, a girl may be born with a noticeably large clitoris, or lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy may be born with a notably small penis, or with a scrotum that is divided so that it has formed more like labia. Or a person may be born with mosaic genetics, so that some of her cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY.

Though we speak of intersex as an inborn condition, intersex anatomy doesn’t always show up at birth. Sometimes a person isn’t found to have intersex anatomy until she or he reaches the age of puberty, or finds himself an infertile adult, or dies of old age and is autopsied. Some people live and die with intersex anatomy without anyone (including themselves) ever knowing.

Which variations of sexual anatomy count as intersex? In practice, different people have different answers to that question. That’s not surprising, because intersex isn’t a discreet or natural category.

What does this mean? Intersex is a socially constructed category that reflects real biological variation. To better explain this, we can liken the sex spectrum to the color spectrum. There’s no question that in nature there are different wavelengths that translate into colors most of us see as red, blue, orange, yellow. But the decision to distinguish, say, between orange and red-orange is made only when we need it—like when we’re asking for a particular paint color. Sometimes social necessity leads us to make color distinctions that otherwise would seem incorrect or irrational, as, for instance, when we call certain people “black” or “white” when they’re not especially black or white as we would otherwise use the terms.

In the same way, nature presents us with sex anatomy spectrums. Breasts, penises, clitorises, scrotums, labia, gonads—all of these vary in size and shape and morphology. So-called “sex” chromosomes can vary quite a bit, too. But in human cultures, sex categories get simplified into male, female, and sometimes intersex, in order to simplify social interactions, express what we know and feel, and maintain order.

So nature doesn’t decide where the category of “male” ends and the category of “intersex” begins, or where the category of “intersex” ends and the category of “female” begins. Humans decide. Humans (today, typically doctors) decide how small a penis has to be, or how unusual a combination of parts has to be, before it counts as intersex. Humans decide whether a person with XXY chromosomes or XY chromosomes and androgen insensitivity will count as intersex. http://www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex

It turns out that the rigid “line in the sand” over which the human sex chromosomes — the Y and X — go to avoid crossing over is a bit blurrier than previously thought. Contrary to the current scientific consensus, Arizona State University assistant professor Melissa Wilson Sayres has led a research team that has shown that X and Y DNA swapping may occur much more often. And this promiscuous swapping, may in turn, aid in our understanding of human history and diversity, health and disease, as well as blur rigid chromosomal interpretations of sexual identity.

Intersex is part of my gender and biological sex. I am intersex and genderqueer (having the brain of both sexes) but feel also mostly male.

I posted that I was “Intersex” on facebook and this is just some of the responses:

*What’s that?

*That’s Bruce Jenner shit

*Thought that was transgender.

*Biologically intersex?

*I’ll pass thank u very much

*No that’s not transgender. It’s having the brain of both sexes.

*Challenger, How many genders? 2, to, too, or two?

Damien AtHope There are more than just two genders

*Challenger, No there are not. Transsexualism dose exist, although they identify as either male or female.

Damien AtHope I am intersex and yes it is scientific.

*Challenger, There’s very little in our genetic makeup that makes us different than a banana. Biologically, it’s possible to have more male or female chromosomes but, that case study clearly identified as being female. Have you ever meet anyone over 30 who’s got their shit together, and is not an emotionally unstable attention whore who identifies as being “gender fluid”? Because I have not.

Damien AtHope My gender is intersex genderqueer male. I can be gender fluid, over 30 and I have most of my shit together. So now you have met me.

*Challenger, That just makes me question your mental stability.

Damien AtHope Why would you try to insinuate that just my being born with a different gender is something that has a mental health issues?

*Challenger, Because it’s delusional. You’re a male, I know that you really want to be something different, but your not.

Damien AtHope I just gave you 4 scientific research articles and you still don’t get it, you are the one denying science not me.

*Challenger, There are lots of non biological male’s and females out there. Gender fluid doesn’t exist. Also, those links you gave are hardly reliable sources.

Damien AtHope You are starting opinion without the scientific support.

*Challenger, You’re posting a bunch of junk science.

Damien AtHope What source do you want?

*Challenger, A reputable source

I (Damien AtHope) gave thee research studies.

*Challenger, Give me a chance to read some of these articles and I’ll let you know if it changes my opinion.

Review

“Callahan does a good job of exploring intersex individuals, who are neither male nor female, and argues that they need to be accepted for what they are and not viewed as defective.” —Publishers Weekly

“Immunologist Callahan takes a fascinating look at the biology and human experience of intersexuality, a state in between male and female.” —Discover Magazine

“Callahan’s writing style is both accessible and engaging; it reads more like creative non-fiction, a la Malcolm Gladwell.” —Ms. Magazine

“This is a fascinating, easily understandable journey into why we are born male or female and examines our age-old obsession with sex.” —Fort Collins Coloradoan

“There are lots of interesting nuggets here—for example, Callahan’s description of biological sex as a spectrum, not a binary system.” —Double X

“The book is really beautifully written, highly accessible, and visionary in its own right.” —Feministing

“This book takes readers through an alphabet of gender and gender variations. Callahan shows readers that rather than either/or scenarios, there have always been variations; his book shatters our society’s take on pink and blue.” —Advocate.com

I know I am intersex to some amount. I have testes that do not produce as much testosterone as usual (my testosterone is lower than most women), A shortage of testosterone can lead to delayed or incomplete puberty, breast enlargement (I had a delayed puberty, large female size nipples, and some breast enlargement), and infertility. Some affected individuals like me also have genital differences including, the opening of the urethra on the underside of the penis (hypospadias), or an unusually small penis (I had hypospadias and a hidden penis 0.0” (showing) when not hard and 5.5” when turned on. Older children and adults with Klinefelter syndrome tend to be taller than their peers (I was much taller than almost all of my peers).

Affected individuals typically have testes that do not produce as much testosterone as usual. Testosterone is the hormone that directs male sexual development before birth and during puberty. A shortage of testosterone can lead to delayed or incomplete puberty, breast enlargement (gynecomastia), reduced facial and body hair, and an inability to have biological children (infertility). Some affected individuals also have genital differences including undescended testes (cryptorchidism), the opening of the urethra on the underside of the penis (hypospadias), or an unusually small penis (micropenis). Older children and adults with Klinefelter syndrome tend to be taller than their peers. Compared with unaffected men, adults with Klinefelter syndrome have an increased risk of developing breast cancer and a chronic inflammatory disease called systemic lupus erythematosus. Their chance of developing these disorders is similar to that of women in the general population. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gtr/conditions/C0022735/

Most people have 46 chromosomes. Chromosomes contain all of your genes and DNA, the building blocks of the body. The 2 sex chromosomes (X and Y) determine if you become a boy or a girl. Girls normally have 2 X chromosomes. Boys normally have 1 X and 1 Y chromosome.

Intersex (info from medlineplus.gov)

Intersex is a group of conditions where there is a discrepancy between the external genitals and the internal genitals (the testes and ovaries).

The older term for this condition is hermaphroditism. Although the older terms are still included in this article for reference, they have been replaced by most experts, patients, and families. Increasingly, this group of conditions is being called disorders of sex development (DSDs).

Causes

Intersex can be divided into 4 categories:

46, XX intersex

46, XY intersex

True gonadal intersex

Complex or undetermined intersex

Each one is discussed in more detail below. Note: In many children, the cause of intersex may remain undetermined, even with modern diagnostic techniques.

46, XX INTERSEX

The person has the chromosomes of a woman, the ovaries of a woman, but external (outside) genitals that appear male. This most often is the result of a female fetus having been exposed to excess male hormones before birth. The labia (“lips” or folds of skin of the external female genitals) fuse, and the clitoris enlarges to appear like a penis. In most cases, this person has a normal uterus and fallopian tubes. This condition is also called 46, XX with virilization. It used to be called female pseudohermaphroditism. There are several possible causes:

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (the most common cause).

Male hormones (such as testosterone) taken or encountered by the mother during pregnancy.

Male hormone-producing tumors in the mother: These are most often ovarian tumors. Mothers who have children with 46, XX intersex should be checked unless there is another clear cause.

Aromatase deficiency: This one may not be noticeable until puberty. Aromatase is an enzyme that normally converts male hormones to female hormones. Too much aromatase activity can lead to excess estrogen (female hormone); too little to 46, XX intersex. At puberty, these XX children, who had been raised as girls, may begin to take on male characteristics.

46, XY INTERSEX

The person has the chromosomes of a man, but the external genitals are incompletely formed, ambiguous, or clearly female. Internally, testes may be normal, malformed, or absent. This condition is also called 46, XY with undervirilization. It used to be called male pseudohermaphroditism. Formation of normal male external genitals depends on the appropriate balance between male and female hormones. Therefore, it requires the adequate production and function of male hormones. 46, XY intersex has many possible causes:

Problems with the testes: The testes normally produce male hormones. If the testes do not form properly, it will lead to undervirilization. There are a number of possible causes for this, including XY pure gonadal dysgenesis.

Problems with testosterone formation: Testosterone is formed through a series of steps. Each of these steps requires a different enzyme. Deficiencies in any of these enzymes can result in inadequate testosterone and produce a different syndrome of 46, XY intersex. Different types of congenital adrenal hyperplasia can fall in this category.

Problems with using testosterone: Some people have normal testes and make adequate amounts of testosterone, but still have 46, XY intersex due to conditions such as 5-alpha-reductase deficiency or androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS).

People with 5-alpha-reductase deficiency lack the enzyme needed to convert testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). There are at least 5 different types of 5-alpha-reductase deficiency. Some of the babies have normal male genitalia, some have normal female genitalia, and many have something in between. Most change to external male genitalia around the time of puberty.

AIS is the most common cause of 46, XY intersex. It has also been called testicular feminization. Here, the hormones are all normal, but the receptors to male hormones don’t function properly. There are over 150 different defects that have been identified so far, and each causes a different type of AIS.

TRUE GONADAL INTERSEX

The person must have both ovarian and testicular tissue. This may be in the same gonad (an ovotestis), or the person might have 1 ovary and 1 testis. The person may have XX chromosomes, XY chromosomes, or both. The external genitals may be ambiguous or may appear to be female or male. This condition used to be called true hermaphroditism. In most people with true gonadal intersex, the underlying cause is unknown, although in some animal studies it has been linked to exposure to common agricultural pesticides.

COMPLEX OR UNDETERMINED INTERSEX DISORDERS OF SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

Many chromosome configurations other than simple 46, XX or 46, XY can result in disorders of sex development. These include 45, XO (only one X chromosome), and 47, XXY, 47, XXX – both cases have an extra sex chromosome, either an X or a Y. These disorders do not result in a condition where there is a discrepancy between internal and external genitalia. However, there may be problems with sex hormone levels, overall sexual development, and altered numbers of sex chromosomes.